clark



"T. L. CLARK. HEAD BLOGK.

N0.'75,871. Patented Mar. 10,1868.

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Letters Patent No. 15,3"i1, dated Miro-E10, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN HEAD-BLOGKS.

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TO ALL \YHOM IT MAY CONCERN: I

Be it known that I, TIIADDEUs L. CLARK, of Mount Vernon, inthe county of Knox, andin the State 'of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements'in Head-Blocks for circular-saw mills; and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,'and the letters of reference marked thereon.

In the annexed drawings, making "a part of this specification, A A represent head-blocks, resting on and secured to an ordinary carriage-or ways, L L,- vrhich is worked or operated by any of the known or ordinary methods now in use, and B B represent knees of the ordinary construction, provided with racks or 'cogs on their under sides, and fitting in grooves for that purpose in the head-blocks A A, and operated by means of the pinions R. R, on and secured to the shafts G C. The head-blocks A A may be secured to the carriage at any desired distance apartto correspond with the length of the log or lumber to be sawed,

C C represent shafts of any required length, one end of each resting and working in the end of its corresponding head-block, and the other end working in the housings H which are fastened in any secure manner to the carriage-side-L. v

The shafts C C have attached to them the pinions R, which work in the end of the head-blocks A A, and operate the knees B B, and which may be adjusted. on any part of the said shafts, by means of a screw or I other device, so as to correspond with andoperate in the head-blocks B B when they are adjustedto accommoddtb them to the length of a. log. The said shafts have'also tho ratchet-wheels D D rigidly attached to them near their ends that come together, and which are operated by means of the lever E, with its nawls F F and G G.

The lever E is pivoted to or embraces and works on the ends of both the shafts C C, and beside being provided with the paw-ls F F and G G, is further provided with-a'projeoting are, l,which projects forward toward the carriage-frame L, and, together with the quadrants I I, regulates the distance which the ratchetwhcels D D are carried forward each time the lever E is operated or worked forward and backward.

The double epladrants- I I are adjusted upon the shafts C C, between the housings H H and the ratchetwhecls-D D, and close to the latter, for the purpose of throwing the pawls of the lever E and the pawls J J out of gear with the ratchet-wheels D D whenever desired. Said quadrants are provided with spring-levers c e, secured to their sides, and having projections to fit in the notches ffin the housings H H,

The circular disks H H, called housings, are rigidly fastened to the side L of the mill-carriage, and form a journal-boa for the shaft 0 to work in, is provided with notches or grooves ff, for the projections of tho spring-levers e e to lit in said notches, are-cut at suitable distances apart, and marked by figures, and thus form a convenient scale by which to graduate the movement of the ratchet-wheels D D, and thereby the shafts C C and knees B 13. There are attached to each of the housings H H suitable arms or spindles hit, extending horizontally right and left over the wheels K K, fcr the purpose of supporting the adjustable and movable indicntorsg'j. which, being suspended over the spiral grooves x r of the indicating-wheels K K, work therein, and, by means of the figures on theirperiphery, indicate the distance the knees B B are from thc'saw.

The indicating-wheels K K are rigidly attached to the shafts C O, ar.d are provided with spiral grooves :r a, and a series of figures on their peripheries, the grooves a: n: for the indicators jj to work in, and, by means of the figures, to indicate the number of inches or parts of an inch the knees B B may have been opera-ted or moved from a certain given point or position,

- The indicating-wheels K K,.being rigidly attached to the shafts-(1 C, are moved or turned at the same time therewith by means of the lever E, with its'pawls'; and the indicators jj, being suspended above and working in the grooves m of said wbcelsK K, and placed at zero, (0,) when the knees B B are close or even with the side of the saw, will point to certain figures on the periphery of the wheels K, when the same are turned backwards, and the knees B B are withdrawn from the saw, and thereby made to indicate the number of inches or parts of inches the said knees have been withdrawn or may be from'the line of the plane of the saw.

Now, if' a. log be placed in front of the knees B B, and there adjusted, one edge or side of it being in a plane with the saw, and the indicator showing the number of inches the knees are from the saw, they must necessarily show the number of inch boardsthere are contained in riaid log; and, by a different series of numhers on the peripheries of the wheels K, the numbers of three-fourths inch boards there are in. the same log; and, by still another series, the number of inch and a quarter boards; and so on. The time and trouble of calculation and application of measures and rules are therebyobviated.

Thus it will be seen that thisis both a labor and time-s aving device, enabling, as it does, the operator to know at once the number of boards of a given thickness that there is in the leg as soon as it is adjusted on the head-block. v v Y J J represent self-acting or adjusting 'pawls, attached to or suspended by a shaft, b, which is secured beneath and in the framework which seeures'the housings H II to the side of the mill-carriage. 'lhese pawls are pivoted or suspended near their middle, and have weights on one end, to throw their face in gear with the ratchet-wheels D D, when the same are not thrown and held out by means of'the quadrants-I'I.

- All of the pawls, F F, G G, and J J, are constructed so that their face or catching-edges are wider than the thickness of the ratchet-wheels D D, so that they may be thrown out of or let in gear with said ratchetwheels by means of the quadrants I I. I

Attached to the double quadrants II are two spring-levers e c, with projections on their sides, fitting into the notchesff, cut in the housings H H for that purpose.

When the spring-levers e care placed in the notches 1 1, the pawls F F and J J are thrown ofi' from the ratchet-wheels D D, and, by moving the lever E back the pawls G will-work in said ratchet-wheels, and draw the knees B B back from the saw to any desired point or-distance from it.

When the spring-levers e e are placed in the notches 2 2, the quadrants are thereby moved back, allowing the'pawls J J to catch in the ratc het-wheels, and thereby prevent a backwardmovcment of the sane, and admit the pawls F F to enter or catch'iu frpnt ot' the quadrants I I; and then, by throwing the lever E forward until the projecting are l of the lever E rests upon the side, L, of the mill-carriage, the knees B B are thrown forward, and thereby the log on the head-blocks A A is placed in position, and moved so as to saw lumber of such thickness as may be desired, and which may be determined by means of the scale or notchesff in the housings H H.

Diifercnt series of numbers may be placed upon the periphery of the indicating-wheels K K, for the pur pose of not only showing the distance between the saw and the front of the knees 13 B in inches, and thereby to show how many, or the number of boards or planks of a given thickness is contained in a leg, but to indieate how many boards or planks of a, different thickness are contained'in the same log or part of a log; for example, one series of numbers, to indicate-the number of inch boards, and another, to indicate the, number .of three-fourths inch boards, in a log, as soon as it isfinally adjusted on the head-blocks B B, and so on, as

many s'cri-esas may be required for the convenience of the operator. v

The shafts C C, supporting and extending right and left from the lever' E; are operated by said lever and its pawls, either separately or together, as may be desired, by means of the pawls of the lever E beingthrown out of or into gear with the ratchet-wheels D D, or either of them, by means of the quadrants I I, which are adjusted separately by means of the spring-levers e e, and thereby the line of the knees B B may be kept parallel with the saw or obliquely thereto; and thus a tapering piece of lumber may be sawed, or a board maybe cut thick at one end and thin at the other, of whatever dimensions that may be desired.

It is obvious that by, the arrangement above described the head-hlocks A A and the knees B B are independent of each other, although they are nerated by the same lever E, and may be operated at the same time or not, as may be desired.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. The indicating-wheels K K, provided with grooves z z, and different series of figures on their peripheries, in combination with the indicators jj, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the shafts C C, indicating-wheels K K, and ratchet-wheels D D, with the housings H H, quadrants I I, and levers E, when constructed and operated-substantially as described, and used for the purpose set forth. I

In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I have hereunto set rn'yhand, this 18th day of December, 1867.

T. L. CLARK.

Witnesses:

NonMj/m Gunivsssr, JULIA 'E. Tununn; 

